List of
scandals involving Impostor Evangelists (not Christians)

PE1
1: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.Baptised believers become
Christians and thus 'Holy' and incorruptable! All materially
corrupted and fornicating priest or misister can never have been
Christians! So don't see them as fallen lights, but take them for what they have always been: cons!

JOH 5: 43I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive!

And O! do the fools make the above verse unfold with their faith in false ministers!

List of scandals
involving impostor-evangelicals (not Christians)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of scandals related mostly to American impostor
evangelist. (Roman Catholic clergy and high-profile leaders from New
Religious Movements are not within the scope of this list.)

Contents

The world will always contain plenty of fools for Pseudo-Ministries! Recall Jimmy Swaggart?

Married man, whore monger and fornicator: so not of the spirit and never has been; for Christians are of incorruptible seed.

Main article: Aimee Semple McPherson
One of the most famous evangelist scandals involved Canadian-born Aimee
Semple McPherson in the 1920s, who allegedly faked her own death. She
later claimed that she had been kidnapped, but a grand jury adjourned
with no indictment, saying it had not enough evidence to proceed.
Roberta Semple Salter, her daughter from her first marriage, became
estranged from Semple McPherson and successfully sued her
mother's attorney for slander during the 1930s. As a result of this she
was cut out of her mother's will. Aimee Semple McPherson died in 1944
from an accidental overdose of barbiturates.

Lonnie
Frisbee, 1970s–1980s

Main article: Lonnie Frisbee
Lonnie Frisbee was an American closeted gay Pentecostal evangelist and
self-described "seeing prophet" in the late 1960s and 1970s who despite
his "hippie" appearance had notable success as a minister and
evangelist. Frisbee was a key figure in the Jesus Movement and was
involved in the rise of two worldwide denominations (Calvary Chapel and
the Vineyard Movement). Both churches later disowned him because of
his active homosexuality, removing him first from leadership positions,
then ultimately firing him. He died of AIDS-related complications in
1993.

Marjoe
Gortner, early 1970s

Main article: Marjoe Gortner
Gortner rose to fame in the late 1940s as a child preacher, but he had
simply been trained to do this by his parents and he had no personal
faith. He was able to perform "miracles" and received large amounts of
money in donations. After suffering a crisis of conscience, he invited
a film crew to accompany him on a final preaching tour. The resulting
film, Marjoe, mixes footage of revival meetings with Gortner's
explanations of how evangelists manipulate their audiences. It won the
1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but was not shown
widely in the Southern United States due to fears that it would cause
outrage in the Bible Belt.[1]

Billy James
Hargis, early 1970s

Main article: Billy James Hargis Hargis was a prolific author and radio
evangelist. Hargis formed American Christian College in 1971 to teach
fundamentalist Christian principles. However, a sex scandal erupted at
the College, involving
claims that Hargis had sex with male and female students. Hargis was
forced out of American Christian College's presidency as a result.
Further scandals erupted when members of Hargis' youth choir, the "All
American Kids", accused Hargis of sexual misconduct as well. The
college eventually closed down in the mid-1970s. Hargis denied the
allegations publicly.

Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker In 1986,
evangelist
Jimmy Swaggart began on-screen attacks against
fellow televangelists Marvin Gorman and Jim Bakker. He uncovered
Gorman's affair with a member of Gorman's congregation, and also helped
expose Bakker's infidelity (which was arranged by a colleague while on
an out-of-state trip).[2] These exposures received widespread media
coverage. Gorman retaliated in kind by hiring a private investigator to
uncover Swaggart's own adulterous indiscretions with a
prostitute.[3] Swaggart was subsequently forced to step down from his
pulpit for a year and made a tearful televised apology in February 1988
to his congregation, saying "I have sinned against you, my Lord, and I
would ask that your precious blood would wash and cleanse every
stain until it is in the seas of God's forgiveness."[4][5]

Swaggart was caught again by California police three years later in
1991 with another prostitute, Rosemary Garcia, who was riding with him
in his car when he was stopped for driving on the wrong side of the
road. When asked why she was with Swaggart, she replied, "He asked me
for sex. I mean, that's why he stopped me. That's what I do. I'm a
prostitute.

"[6] Peter
Popoff, 1987

Main article: Peter Popoff A self-proclaimed prophet and faith healer
in the 1980s, Popoff's ministry went bankrupt in 1987 after magician
and skeptic James Randi and Steve Shaw debunked his methods by showing
that instead of receiving information about audience members from
supernatural
sources, he received it through an in-ear receiver.[7]

Morris
Cerullo, 1990s

Main article: Morris Cerullo A number of incidents involving
California-based televangelist Morris Cerullo caused outrage in the
United Kingdom during the 1990s. Cerullo's claims of faith healing were
the focus of particular concern. At a London crusade in 1992, he
pronounced a child cancer sufferer to be healed, yet the girl died two
months later. Multiple complaints were upheld against satellite
television channels transmitting Cerullo's claims of faith-healing, and
a panel of doctors concluded that Cerullo's claims of miraculous
healing powers could not
be substantiated. Cerullo also produced fund-raising material which was
condemned as unethical by a number of religious leaders, as it implied
that giving money to his organisation would result in family members
becoming Christians.[8]

Mike Warnke,
1991

Main article: Mike Warnke Warnke was a popular Christian evangelist and
comedian during the 1970s and 1980s. He claimed in his autobiography,
The Satan Seller (1973), that he had once been deeply involved in a
Satanic cult and was
a Satanic priest before converting to Christianity. In 1991,
Cornerstone magazine launched an investigation into Warnke's life and
testimony. It investigated Warnke's life, from interviews with over one
hundred personal friends and acquaintances, to his ministry's tax
receipts. Its investigation turned up damaging evidence of fraud and
deceit. The investigation
also revealed the unflattering circumstances surrounding
Warnke's
multiple marriages, affairs, and divorces. Most critically, however,
the investigation showed how Warnke could not possibly have done the
many things he claimed to have done throughout his nine-month tenure as
a Satanist, much less become a drug-addicted dealer or become a Satanic
high priest.

Robert
Tilton, 1991

Main article: Robert Tilton
Tilton is an American televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s
and early 1990s through his paid television program Success-N- Life. At
its peak, it aired in all 235 American TV markets. In 1991, Diane
Sawyer and ABC News conducted an investigation of Tilton. The
investigation, broadcast on ABC's Primetime Live on November 21, 1991,
found that Tilton's ministry threw away prayer requests without reading
them, keeping only the money or valuables sent to them by viewers,
garnering his ministry an estimated $80 million USD a year. In the
original investigation, one of Tilton's former prayer hotline operators
claimed that the ministry cared little for desperate followers who
called for prayer, saying that Tilton had a computer installed in July
1989 to make sure that the phone operators were off the line in seven
minutes. Tilton sued ABC for libel in 1992, but the
case was dismissed in 1993, and Tilton's show was off the air by
October 30, 1993.

W. V. Grant,
1996 and 2003

Main article: W. V. Grant
Grant was investigated by James Randi regarding his faith healing
claims. He was then imprisoned for tax evasion in 1996. After
restarting his ministry upon release, TV news investigations in
Atlanta, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia, investigated his revival
meetings and concluded his healing claims were false. A 2010 program on
the British Channel 4 station also concluded that Grant's claimed
supernatural abilities were fake.[9]

Bob
Moorehead, 1998

Moorehead, pastor of the Overlake Christian Church from the 1970s to
June, 1998 was arrested in July, 1996 on a charge of indecent exposure
in a public restroom in Daytona Beach, Florida. He stepped down amid
allegations of molestation of adult members during baptism and wedding
ceremonies that went as far back as 20 years earlier. [10]

Roy Clements,
1999

Main article: Roy Clements
Clements was a prominent figure within British evangelical
Christianity. In 1999, he revealed he was in a homosexual relationship,
resigned his pastorship, and separated from his wife. He had written a
number of well-received books which were withdrawn from sale when the
news broke.[11]

John Paulk,
2000

Main article: John Paulk
John Paulk (no relation to Earl Paulk) is a former leader of Focus on
the Family's Love Won Out conference and former chairman of the board
for Exodus International North America. His claimed shedding of
homosexuality is also the subject of his autobiography Not Afraid to
Change. In September 2000, Paulk was found and photographed in a
Washington, D.C. gay bar, and accused by opponents of flirting with
male patrons at the bar. Later questioned by gay rights activist Wayne
Besen, Paulk denied being in the bar despite photographic proof to the
contrary. Initially, FoF's Dr. James Dobson sided with Paulk and
supported his claims. Subsequently, Paulk, who himself had written
about his habit of lying while he openly lived as a homosexual,
confessed to being in the bar, but claimed he entered the establishment
for reasons other than sexual pursuits. Paulk retained his Board seat
for Exodus, however he did so while on probation. Paulk did not run
again for chairman of the board of Exodus when his term expired.

Paul Crouch,
2004

Main article: Paul Crouch
Paul Crouch is the founder and president of the Trinity Broadcasting
Network, or TBN, the world's largest evangelical Christian television
network, as well as the former host of TBN's flagship variety show,
Praise the Lord. In September 2004, the Los Angeles Times published a
series of articles raising questions about the fundraising practices
and financial transparency of TBN, as well as the allegations of a
former ministry employee, Enoch Lonnie Ford, that he had a homosexual
affair with Crouch during the 1990s. TBN denied the allegations,
claiming that Ford's claims were part of an extortion scheme and that
the Times was a "left-wing and anti-Christian newspaper." In 2005, Ford
appeared at the taping of the ION Television show Lie Detector. The
show's producers decided not to air the show, and the outcome of the
lie detector test was never released. Consequently, none of the
allegations were substantiated.

Douglas
Goodman, 2004

Douglas Goodman, an evangelical preacher, and his wife Erica were
pastors of Victory Christian Centre in London, England. The church was
one of the largest in the United Kingdom. He came into notoriety when
he was jailed for three and a half years for the sexual assault of four
members of his congregation in 2004. VCC was closed by the Charity
Commission, but his wife Erica started a new church, Victory to
Victory, in Wembley. Douglas has upon his release resumed full pastoral
ministry alongside his wife.[12][13][14][15][16]

Kent Hovind,
2006

Main article: Kent Hovind
Kent Hovind is an American Baptist minister and Young Earth
creationist. He is most famous for "creation science" seminars, in
which he argues for Young Earth creationism, using his self-formulated
"Hovind Theory." He has been criticized by both the mainstream
scientific community and other creationists. In 2006, Hovind who also
has a reputation as a tax protestor had been charged with falsely
declaring bankruptcy, making threats against federal officials, filing
false complaints, failing to get necessary building permits, and
various tax-related charges. He was convicted of 58 federal tax
offenses and related charges, for which he is currently serving a ten-
year sentence.[17]

Ted Haggard,
2006

Main article: Ted Haggard
Ted Haggard was the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs,
Colorado and was the president of the National Association of
Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. Haggard's position
allowed him occasional access to President George W. Bush. In 2006 it
was alleged that Haggard had been regularly visiting a male prostitute
who also provided him with methamphetamine. Haggard admitted his
wrongdoing and resigned as pastor of New Life church and as president
of the NAE. The high-profile case was significant also because it
immediately preceded the 2006 mid-term elections and may have even
affected national voting patterns [citation needed]. In January 2009,
Haggard admitted to a second homosexual relationship with a male church
member on CNN-TV and other national media, and when asked, would not
directly answer a question about his other possible homosexual
relationships.[18] Ted Haggard has recently started a new church.[19]

Paul Barnes,
2006

Main article: Paul Barnes
Paul Barnes is the founder and former senior minister of the
evangelical church Grace Chapel in Douglas County, Colorado. He
confessed his homosexual activity to the church board, and his
resignation was accepted on December 7, 2006.[20] He started the church
in his basement and watched it reach a membership of 2,100 in his 28
years of leadership. This scandal was notable because it was similar to
Ted Haggard's (above), it occurred in the same state (Colorado) and
around the same time (late 2006).

Lonnie
Latham, 2006

Main article: Lonnie Latham
In 2006, Latham, the senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church and a
member of the powerful Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee,
was arrested for "offering to engage in an act of lewdness" with a male
undercover police officer.[21]

Gilbert Deya,
2006

Main article: Gilbert Deya
Kenyan-born Deya moved to the United Kingdom in the 1990s and started
a number of churches. He claims to have supernatural powers that allow
him to make infertile women become pregnant and give birth. However,
police investigations in the UK and Kenya concluded that Deya and his
wife were stealing Kenyan babies. Deya was arrested in London during
December 2006, and following a long legal process it was reported in
September 2011 that he would be extradited to Kenya to face child
abduction charges.[22]

Richard
Roberts, 2007

Main article: Richard Roberts
In October 2007, televangelist Richard Roberts (son of the late
televangelist Oral Roberts), was president of Oral Roberts University
until his forced resignation on November 23, 2007. Roberts was named as
a defendant in a lawsuit alleging improper use of university funds for
political and personal purposes and improper use of university
resources.[23]

Earl Paulk,
2007

Main article: Earl Paulk
Earl Paulk (no relation to John Paulk) was the founder and head pastor
of Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur, Georgia from 1960 until
the 1990s. A number of women from the congregation came forward during
the 1990s and 2000s, claiming that Paulk had sexual relations with
them; charges of child molestation were also made. Some of these
claims have subsequently been proven correct. Moreover, Donnie Earl
Paulk, the current senior pastor of the church and nephew of Earl
Paulk, had a court-ordered DNA test in 2007 which showed that he was
Earl's son, not his nephew, which means that Earl and his sister-in-
law had had a sexual relationship which led to Donnie's birth.[24]

Coy Privette,
2007

Main article: Coy Privette
Privette is a Baptist pastor, conservative activist, and politician in
the U.S. state of North Carolina. Privette was president of the
Christian Action League and a prominent figure in North Carolina moral
battles. In 2007, Privette resigned as president of North Carolina's
Christian Action League and from the Board of Directors of the Baptist
State Convention of North Carolina, following revelations on July 19
that he had been charged with six counts of aiding and abetting
prostitution.[25]

Thomas Wesley
Weeks, III, 2007

Main article: Thomas Wesley Weeks, III
Weeks married fellow evangelist Juanita Bynum in 2002, but they
separated in May 2007. In August 2007, Weeks physically assaulted Bynum
in a hotel parking lot and was convicted of the crime in March 2008.
The couple divorced in June 2008 and Weeks remarried in October
2009.[26]

Michael Reid,
2008

Main article: Michael Reid
Bishop Michael Reid (born 1944) is a Christian evangelist in Essex,
England and founder of Michael Reid Ministries who resigned from the
role of pastor at Peniel Church in April 2008, after admitting to an
eight-year extra-marital sexual relationship. The scandal was widely
reported online [27][28][29] and in UK newspapers.[30][31] He has since
re-developed an itinerant evangelistic ministry and has been speaking
at a number of churches in the UK and overseas.

Joe Barron,
2008

Joe Barron, one of the 40 ministers at Prestonwood Baptist Church, one
of the largest churches in the United States with 26,000 members, was
arrested on May 15, 2008 for solicitation of a minor after driving from
the Dallas area to Bryan, Texas, in order to allegedly engage in sexual
relations with what he thought to be a 13 year-old girl he had met
online. Barron's online communications had in fact been with undercover
law enforcement official.[32][33][34]

Todd Bentley,
2008

Main article: Todd Bentley
Canadian Todd Bentley rose to prominence as the evangelist at the
Lakeland Revival in Florida, which began in April 2008. Bentley claimed
that tens of thousands of people were healed at the revival. However,
in August 2008, he stepped down permanently when it was revealed he was
separating from his wife, Shonnah, and was in a relationship with Jessa
Hasbrook, a member of his staff. [35]

Ergun Caner,
2010

Main article: Ergun Caner
Ergun Caner grew up in suburban Ohio, but after 9/11, presented
himself to churches and other organizations as having been raised and
trained in Turkey and Egypt as a militant jihadi to wage war in the US.
[36][37] He and his brother Emir authored books explaining Islam to
evangelicals containing many basic mistakes, displaying a rudimentary
rather than expert understanding of the religion.[38] Ergun's
prominence and popularity propelled him to the position of dean at the
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School of Liberty
University.[39] In early 2010, Reformed apologist James White
questioned Caner's claims to have debated Muslim scholars and
representatives of virtually all religions on college campuses across
the country.[40] Legal documents located by Christian and Muslim
bloggers demonstrated the fraudulence of Caner's constructed life
narrative.[41] Sound clips from his preaching contained supposed quotes
in Arabic that turned out to be gibberish.[42] Liberty's
subsequent investigation resulted in Caner's not having his contract
renewed for the position of dean in the summer of 2010, demoting him
to professor. [43][44] He took up a new post at Arlington Baptist
College in 2011. [45]

George Alan
Rekers, 2010

Main article: George Alan Rekers
Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp of the Miami New Times reported on
May 4, 2010, that on April 13, 2010, Christian leader George Alan
Rekers was photographed at Miami International Airport returning from
an extended overseas trip with a twenty-year-old "rent boy", or gay
male prostitute, known as "Lucien" (later identified as Jo-Vanni
Roman). Given his opinion on homosexuals and homosexual behavior, the
scandal surrounds Rekers' decision to employ a homosexual escort as a
traveling companion, and how that runs contrary to Rekers' public
stances on such issues.

Rekers claimed that Lucien was there to help carry Rekers' luggage as
Rekers had allegedly had recent surgery, yet Rekers was seen carrying
his own luggage when he and Lucien were spotted at the airport.[46] On
his blog, Rekers denied having sex with the man.[47] In subsequent
interviews, Roman said Rekers had paid him to provide nude massages
daily, which included genital touching.

Eddie L.
Long, 2010

Main article: Eddie L. Long
In September 2010 several civil complaints were filed against Bishop
Eddie L. Long by men that stated Mr. Long used his position as the
church leader to entice or coerce the men into consensual sexual
relationships in exchange for money, travel and goods. At a press
event on September 26, 2010 Bishop Long stated he would fight the
civil complaints in court and would not comment on the allegations. On
May 27, 2011, Bishop Long settled the matter out of court. [48] The
Canadian documentary series, Sex Scandals In Religion covered the Long
case [49]

Marcus Lamb,
2010

In December 2010, televangelist Marcus Lamb, the founder of the
Daystar Television Network, admitted on television that he had been
involved in an extramarital affair several years prior. He further
alleged an extortion scheme against him. In late 2010 and early 2011,
three former Daystar employees filed a series of lawsuits against Lamb
and his wife, Joni, making allegations ranging from financial
mismanagement in relation to the affair, to sexual harassment, and to
wrongful termination.

Vaughn
Reeves, 2010

Special Judge Dena Martin ordered former pastor Vaughn Reeves to serve
consecutive six-year terms for each of nine fraud counts, in a scheme
that cost about 2,900 investors $13.1 million.[50] Among aggravating
factors, Martin found Reeves targeted people over age 65 and used
religion to influence them. Reeves’ attorney plans to appeal.

Investigators said Reeves and his three sons used their now-defunct
company, Alanar, to trick about 11,000 investors into buying bonds
worth $120 million secured by mortgages on church construction
projects.[51]

Instead, Reeves and his sons diverted money from new investments to
pay off previous investors, pocketing $6 million and buying luxuries.
[51]

Stephen
Green, 2011

Stephen Green, a former Chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign
who attends an Assemblies of God Church, is head of Christian Voice, a
Conservative Christian pressure group in the UK.

In January 2011, Green's former wife, Caroline Green, accused him of
repeatedly physically assaulting her and their children, including one
incident where he allegedly beat her with a weapon until she bled, and
another in which their son allegedly required hospital treatment after
having been beaten with a piece of wood.[52]

Albert
Odulele, 2011

In February 2011, televangelist, founder and senior pastor of Glory
House London, Dr Albert Odulele was charged with two counts of sexual
assault, one involving a 14-year-old boy and another on a 21-year-old
man. Although he initially denied the charges, he later pleaded guilty
and confessed that he had been battling with his sexuality for many
years. He was subsequently sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court, London,
to 8 and 6 months in prison to run concurrently. He will be on the sex
offenders register for 5 years. He is currently serving his sentence.
[53]

SENATE PROBE

In 2007, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) opened a probe into the
finances of six televangelists who preach a "prosperity gospel".
[54]
The probe investigated reports of lavish lifestyles by televangelists
including: fleets of Rolls Royces, palatial mansions, private jets and
other expensive items purportedly paid for by television viewers who
donate due to the ministries' encouragement of offerings. The six that
were investigated are:

Creflo Dollar
and Taffi Dollar: of World Changers Church International
and Creflo Dollar Ministries of College Park, Ga;

Benny Hinn: of
World Healing Center Church Inc. and Benny Hinn
Ministries of Grapevine, Texas;

Eddie L.
Long: of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop
Eddie: Long
Ministries of Lithonia, Ga; DocuSeries - SEX SCANDALS and
RELIGION did a 2011 investigative episode on his alleged sexual
misconduct [55]

Joyce Meyer
and David Meyer: of Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo;

Randy White
and ex-wife Paula White: of the multiracial Without
Walls
International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa. [56]

On January 6,
2011 Senator Grassley released his review of the six
ministries response to his inquiry. He called for a further
congressional review of tax-exemption laws for religious groups.[57]

...And The
Gates Of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against ItThrough
the ages Catholics
and other Nicolaitans tried to defy the above quotation by Jesus,
oppressing
and murdering many,
deceiving and misleading many more, but they have
not
and shall not prevail against 'His Church'.